Is there an exemption for helping my child buy a home in France?

Reader question: I read about a €100,000 gift tax exemption for money given to help your child buy a home, on top of the usual allowances. My daughter is selling her house – to which I previously contributed £100,000 – and buying a new one with the proceeds; can we arrange it so we benefit from this rule? Do I have to do it before I am 80 years old (coming up later this year)?

There is a rule in place, from the 2025 finance law, giving a time-limited exemption with regard to gifts of money to one of your children to buy a home (it can also apply to eco-friendly renovation works on a home the recipient owns).

It applies to children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and also to a brother’s or sister’s child if you have no children.

There is no age limit to use this. You may be thinking of another rule allowing an additional allowance (on top of the usual gift tax allowances) of up to €31,865 for ‘family gifts of sums of money’. In that case, the donor must be under 80.

To benefit from the 2025 finance law rule, money must be given specifically for the purposes outlined, since the rule came into play last year but before the end of 2026. 

The money must be used for the relevant purpose before the last day of the sixth month starting after the one when the gift was made.

The special exemption applies up to €100,000. If the gift is more, any excess would be assessed for gift tax under the usual rules.

Your own situation is complex and would benefit from advice from a notaire. 

One possible approach, if your daughter sells her home and repays the £100,000 to you (assuming this was clearly provided as a loan rather than a gift), would be for you then to make a fresh gift towards the new purchase. 

It should be possible to benefit from the new rules, provided the gift is made before the new property is acquired.

If there is no evidence the original sum was a loan not a gift, there is a risk your daughter repaying the money could itself be seen as a taxable gift. 

That said, there is a €100,000 gift tax allowance for gifts from a child to a parent.